American Airlines forced to cancel 90 flights a day as Boeing MAX grounding continues

Ali Coulton

25 Mar2019

American Airlines has revealed it has had to cancel 90 flights a day since grounding Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft.

The airline announced it will extend flight cancellations through to April 24. It told Reuters it was making the announcement to give its customers and team members “more certainty”.

Boeing’s 737 Max has been grounded by airlines around the world for the past two weeks after experiencing its second deadly crash in six months.

Boeing is expected to report to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about a planned upgrade to its anti-stall system which has been in the works since the Lion Air crash in October which resulted in the deaths of 189 people.

According to Reuters, American, Southwest and United Airlines are all meeting with Boeing this week to discuss the upgrade, which will include previously “optional” safety features that many airlines, including American, already had.

The New York Timesreported last weekthat both 737 Max aircrafts involved in the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlinescrashes lacked two notable safety features, sold as optional extras by Boeing.

These optional features, The Times report, are commonplace and can include either aesthetic or functional add-ons, notwithstanding communication, navigation or safety systems, which are more fundamental to the plane’s operations.

It is alleged that many low-cost carriers, including Lion Air, do not opt to buy these extra safety features – while regulators do not require them.